Two years ago, we brought you the news that Florence Pugh had signed on to star in a new adaptation of East Of Eden, John Steinbeck's 1952 literary epic. In the time since the project — a seven-part Netflix limited series written by Zoe Kazan (The Big Sick) — was first announced, Christopher Abbott has joined the show's cast and Pugh's star has continued to rise with winning turns in the likes of The Wonder, Oppenheimer, and Dune: Part Two. And now we're getting an exciting new casting announcement for the series as Netflix has officially greenlit the project. Per Deadline's reporting, Challengers star Mike Faist is set to play Cal Trask, the part James Dean famously played in Elia Kazan's 1955 movie, in the new adaptation.
Lion director Garth Davis and Lady Chatterley's Lover filmmaker Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre are both aboard to helm episodes of the new series, which — like Steinbeck's novel and Elia Kazan's film before it — will follow the travails of the Trask family, pitched against the backdrop of a changing mid-20th century America. Faist and Abbott will play rival brothers Cal and Adam in this take on the book, whilst Pugh will take on the role of Cathy Ames, the woman caught at the centre of the Trask brothers' feud. Warrior star Hoon Lee is also attached to star in the show, though his role is as yet unknown.
In a statement accompanying the series' greenlighting, Zoe Kazan — whose connection to the material runs deep (Elia Kazan is, you may be unsurprised to learn, the multi-hyphenate's grandfather) — reflected on the personal nature of the project and the power of Steinbeck's book. "In the process of bringing this family saga to life, the resonance of my own familial connection to the material has not been lost on me. But it is Steinbeck’s writing — personal, shocking, profound and free — that has kept me enthralled to East of Eden since I first read the book as a young teen. Working on this has been the greatest joy, and I am thrilled by the cast and crew we are assembling — and deeply grateful to Netflix, Fifth Season & Anonymous Content for their support.”
There's no word just yet on when we can expect to see East Of Eden hit our screens, but in the meantime we can look forward to seeing Christopher Abbott dealing with a very different kind of familial conflict in Leigh Whannell's "straight-up, pure horror" Wolf Man in January, and Flo Pugh navigating another complicated, years-spanning romance in upcoming Andrew Garfield co-starrer We Live In Time. As for Mike Faist, we're still busy mainlining rewatches of Challengers, so he can enjoy a well-earned break before this one. Alexa, play 'Challengers: Match Point'.